Playing catch up: And the winner is ...

This Oscar weekend, read about the nominees in the categories of 'best microhome built from salvaged materials,' best 'LEED Platinum Craftsman bungalow' and 'best Ewok-style green treehouse community.'

New York Magazine visits Film Biz Recycling, a Brooklyn-based "used-furnishings marketplace that gets all of its inventory from movie and TV companies that need somewhere (besides a Dumpster) to offload their extra props and furniture." I was aware of Eva Radke's fantastic businesses when it was located in Queens but had no idea she'd moved it to my neck of the woods. I think a visit is in order ...

Jetson Green admires the beautiful, eco-friendly Craftsman style bungalow home of Mark and Linda Powell. A departure from more slick, modern LEED-scoring homes, this inviting Tallahassee residence is believed to be the highest scoring LEED Platinum project in Florida with 112 points.

The New York Times profiles the one and only Derek "Deek" Diedrickson, a man who enjoys building microhomes out of salvaged materials just as much as he does rocking out. Check out my post from this past summer about Diedrickson (it includes a shout-out from the man himself) and his Tiny Yellow House web series. That's Diedrickson's 24-square foot Gypsy Junker pictured up top.

Re-Nest investigates the "crack garden" trend in Los Angeles [insert confusing mental image here]. The crack garden movement, an even more ambitious sibling to parking-strip gardening, finds urban gardeners tending to "plant life that is squeezing up through cracks in our streets, sidewalks and parking lots against all odds."

EcoHome is agog over Finca Bellavista, the world’s first "planned, modern, sustainable treehouse community." Spread out over 350-acres of secondary rainforest and reclaimed pasture in Costa Rica, Finca Bellavista is certainly the closest thing to the Ewok Village that I've ever seen.

The Los Angeles Times asks if one can recycle Post-it notes. Turns out if you live in Manhattan Beach, Glendale, West Hollywood, and Torrance, yep, you sure can.

Inhabitat announces the Stop the Paper Towels! Design Competition. The contest — which could have gone with a slightly better name in my humble opinion — invites the public to come up with a green-themed graphic design for a new reusable cloth towel from PeopleTowels.

The Guardian takes a look at the plans for Bill Dunster's PortZed, a project that, when completed, will be the U.K.'s largest off the grid housing development. Features at this self-powered complex of six different apartment buildings include wind turbines, solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, and a traffic light-esque system alerting residents to their energy use.

TreeHugger digs Nickadoo Tree Trunk Tables from Canada. Writes TH: "The tables are made from the trunks of trees from a Quebec forest, which have either fallen naturally or have been cut by local lumber companies. The trunks, instead of being discarded, are cleaned (without chemicals), sanded, hand-polished and then spend a few weeks in a kiln to dry. Once the legs (made of wrought-iron or chrome) are attached, the table is ready for your living room."